Wisconsin bill would take question of consent out of human-trafficking cases.

Byline: Dan Shaw

Whether alleged victims of human trafficking consented to sexual acts would no longer be a question juries could consider under a bill approved by a state Senate committee Tuesday.

The members of the Senate Committee on Transportation, Public Safety, and Veterans and Military Affairs voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 492, which would make a series of changes generally meant to make Wisconsin law easier on victims of human trafficking and harder on perpetrators.

Tony Gibart, policy coordinator for the nonprofit group End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, said questions of consent in these sorts of cases often do nothing more than confuse juries over what is a "metaphysical or philosophical" matter.

He said arguments over consent are particularly out of place when human trafficking is alleged to have been committed against minors, who are treated in other parts of the law as being incapable of consenting to sexual acts.

Senate Bill 492 also seeks to:

add to the list of threats that, if a person makes them to coerce someone into a performing a sexual act, can lead to a felony conviction for human trafficking. Among those added would be the threat of taking away access to illegal drugs. allow victims of trafficking to have previous convictions for prostitution vacated and have records of the crime expunged. add to the parts of a child's anatomy that a person, if he or she causes the parts to be put on display for sexual gratification, can...

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